Every NBA fan was so excited for Victor Wembanyama’s preseason debut on Monday that it wouldn’t have mattered who he was playing. The fact that Chet Holmgren was on the opposing side made it as exciting a duel as preseason can provide.
It didn’t disappoint us.
In the first half alone, Holmgren (21) and Wembanyama (18) combined for 39 points on 14 of 19 shooting. Both hit a pair of 3-pointers. They both finished off the edge; Wembanyama with incredible grace for a man of his size and Holmgren, slight as he is, with real power through contact. Both showed great success on defense.
Check out this sequence below, which begins with Wembanyama digging his way from the 3-point line to the nail (absurd length) and knocking the ball loose before executing a run-out dunk, followed by Holmgren at the other Ends with a get-back and one through contact.
Here they fit together again, both in groups of three.
Next: Wembanyama takes Holmgren off the dribble with a sudden change of direction through his legs before finishing straight through him.
The next one is a wowza. Holmgren arrives to help on the edge, only to see Wembanyama pacing for a left-handed kiss that makes no sense from the fingertips of such a big man.
Meanwhile, Holmgren went above and beyond on both ends; He scored in the paint on tough putbacks, alley-ups, home-created drives and cuts – while, as previously mentioned, he dialed in from deep twice. Inside, outside, off the dribble, off the catch… there’s not much missing from this role.
It will take a few years to get there, but this matchup has the makings of the next great NBA rivalry; Two modern, defensively dominant bigs who have elite size and skill on both ends and are perennial contenders in San Antonio and Oklahoma City for the next decade and more.
Wemby alone will get Spurs into trouble sooner rather than later. The Thunder could be in the game this season and cause real playoff upset. And these two are obviously aware in a “anything you can do, I can do better” kind of way.
The NBA is full of great players. In almost every game at least two of them compete against each other. But there could be more to this duel. The hype around these two already starts at level 10 and it’s only preseason. In fact, ESPN’s Brian Windhost reported that over 20 scouts were in attendance Monday, the most he has ever seen at a preseason game.
Wembanyama and Holmgren could well become the two best defenders of their generation, and with such similar abilities on offense, this has the makings of a classic clash that could become one of the league’s true top attractions in the future.